Thunder’s Weekly Rundown: Impact, Smackdown, More! 06/23/12

WWE No Way Out Final Thoughts: No Way Out delivered well. The card was exactly what I was expecting it to be and I felt the show was a big success overall. Swapping out Del Rio and adding Dolph Ziggler to the World Title match was a terrific idea. I honestly feel Ziggler should be a strong candidate to win MITB next month, but it stands to reason that WWE may just let him fall into obscurity once again. Of the three times he’s now competed for a World Title, he’s nearly fallen off the map once the rivalry is over.

FCW 06/17/12: I could not find ANY upload of FCW this week. I’m not certain of whether or not it even aired as normal.

Raw 6/18/12 Final Thoughts: Overall, most considered this Raw to be below average. I would probably have to agree for the most part. I liked certain segments, but the matches really needed to be longer across the board. Three hour Raws on a regular basis will be an absolute nightmare if WWE doesn’t start to put a bit more focus on having decent length matches consistently.

The NEW Season of WWE NXT 06/20/12

Regal welcomes us to the show, and Jim Ross is introduced. Ross welcomes us to the new season of NXT and then introduces the interim GM of NXT, Dusty Rhodes. Dusty tells us Tyson Kidd will go one on one with Michael McGillicutty in the main event.

A video promo is shown for Bo Dallas. He goes one on one with Rick Victor. Dallas defeats Victor using the spear. JR points out that Dallas has an amazing smile.

Seth Rollins has a video package played. JR says he will be debuting next week.

A video package is shown next for Antonio Cesaro.

The intellectual savior of the masses, Damien Sandow cuts a promo before his match. Sandow refuses to face Jason Jordan and walks away.

The Ascension(Kenneth Cameron and Connor O’Brian) is the next group highlighted in a video package. They team up against Mike Dalton and CJ Parker. Cameron and Parker win the match in under two minutes using the downcast finisher.

Bray Wyatt gets the next video promo aired.

Derrick Bateman and Johnny Curtis exchange words in an odd bathroom segment backstage. They will go one on one in next week’s main event.

Michael McGillicutty goes one on one with Tyson Kidd. Tyson wins the match using the dungeon lock.

Thoughts: I like all the video packages used to promote the wide array of talent on this roster. This show really highlighted the future of WWE in a fantastic way. Dallas and Victor’s match was somewhat short, but the preview you got between the two leaves a fan wanting so much more. It was interesting to see Ascension squash Parker and Dalton; I’m guessing they’ll make their way to main roster rather quickly. McGillicutty and Kidd had yet another standout match. Both of these guys are top caliber and should be in the hunt for the IC and US Titles. What better way to bring prestige back to a real mid card division than with some of the best young talent on the roster? I know I call NXT a good show every week, but this new look and format was probably the most exciting I’ve seen yet.

WWE Superstars 06/21/12

Hunico defeats Ezekial Jackson. Hunico wins using the senton bomb after Jackson is distracted by Camacho.

Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel defeat Reks and Hawkins. Kidd lands the neckbreaker off the hart-attack setup on Hawkins and gets the three count.

Zack Ryder uses the leg lariat from the top rope on Drew McIntyre to pick up the win in the main event.

Thoughts: Ryder, Hunico, and the tag teams are all very deserving talent who should be used better than they are. To me, Superstars has become just a weekly reminder of what WWE can do with some of their talent in the ring if they decided to go in the right direction.

Impact Wrestling: Thursday 06/21/12

Hulk Hogan opens the show and talks about Sting being attacked last week. He says he will get to the bottom of whoever was under the masks. Austin Aries comes out and accepts Hogan’s offer to forfeit the X-Division Title to get his shot at Bobby Roode. Aries asks Hogan to make this a stipulation for every X-Division Champion from now on before the Destination X ppv. Hogan agrees. Bobby Roode comes down and exchanges words. The two end up brawling and being broken up by TNA officials.

Ken Anderson comes out and challenges Christopher Daniels tonight. Daniels accepts and Anderson defeats him to earn seven points in the BFG Series.

Dixie and AJ are shown backstage. Dixie talks about coming clean tonight and having no other choice.

Magnus calls out AJ Styles and defeats him with help from Kazarian and Daniels.

Taeler Hendrix is our gutcheck contestant this month and loses to Tara in under three minutes.

Bully Ray tries to intimidate Joseph Park in a backstage segment.

Samoa Joe calls out James Storm. Storm defeats Joe with a last call superkick and earns seven points in the BFG Series.

Brooke Hogan tells ODB that she won’t be challenging for the championship tonight.

Bully Ray calls out Pope and loses to him after being distracted by Abyss.

Backstage, Hogan books Jeff Hardy and RVD to go one on one in the main event.

Miss Tessmacher defeats Mickie James to retain her title.

Jeff Hardy defeats RVD in the main event to earn seven points in the BFG Series. RVD misses a 450 splash and falls victim to a DDT and a variation of the twist of fate.

Dixie Carter and AJ reveal that they’ve been helping an addict recover from addiction, and that they’ve been secretive about it. Daniels and Kazarian come to the ring and AJ attacks them both to close the show.

Thoughts: I didn’t love the closing segment of Impact with the dramatic and ridiculous storyline, but I loved watching AJ throw around the former tag champs. This was an awesome way to end the show. I like the booking of Aries against Roode at Destination X. I expect Aries to solidify himself in the main event scene with this title shot, and it’s a well deserved place for him to be. The five OFN matches were good and the standout moments to me were probably Anderson beating Daniels and RVD missing that huge 450 splash. I liked the knocksouts match a lot, but Brooke Hogan is a waste of air time for TNA. Taeler Hendrix didn’t appear to be anything special in the ring, but it’s hard to tell with TNA whether or not they’ll bring her up full time from developmental. Last, the Bully Ray/Abyss storyline gets more intense. I can’t wait for Hardcore Justice in August to see these two destroy one another. Good show overall, and I hope they can just increase their viewers and start to gain some momentum in terms of expanding the company.

WWE Friday Night Smackdown 06/22/12

Teddy Long opens the show to hype Laurinaitis’ firing. Big Show comes out and cuts a promo about only caring about himself. Big Show says he is going to be in the Money In The Bank Ladder Match and that no one can stop him. Brodus Clay interrupts and knocks Show off his feet. David Otunga comes down and clips Brodus from behind. Show attacks Brodus and knocks him out with the WMD. Otunga taunts Brodus and dances to his music.

Ryback squashes two more jobbers. The jobbers cut a promo before the match about this being a Summer to remember.

Mick Foley is shown talking with Yoshi Tatsu. Vickie Guerrero interrupts and tells Mick she will be GM of Raw and Smackdown next week. Foley suggest Khali be her assistant. Foley and Khali dance.

Christian goes one on one with Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio wins the match after Ricardo distracts Christian and Del Rio kicks Christian in the head and applies to the cross armbreaker to force Christian to tap out. Cody Rhodes attacks Christian after the match.

AJ Lee is the guest timekeeper as Daniel Bryan goes one on one with Kane. AJ rings the bell when Bryan gets the yes-lock on Kane. Bryan thinks he’s won the match but the ref tells him he hasn’t. Kane chokeslams Bryan and gets the three count victory.

Mick Foley comes to the ring to talk about being GM. Heath Slater interrupts and wants Mick to do something about the embarrassment he suffered on Raw Monday. Mick tells him he has nothing to be embarrassed about and introduces his opponent, Zack Ryder. Ryder wins the short match with the leg lariat.

Backstage, Damien Sandow cuts a promo on Mick Foley and Zack Ryder.

The Prime Time Players defeat the Usos. Darren Young knocks one of the Usos from the top rope and Titus uses a sky high to get the three count victory.

Primo and Epico attack AW and the Prime Time Players backstage.

Santino cuts a promo and looks at signs in the crowd. He brings a woman into the ring who has a “I heart Santino” sign. The woman kisses Santino and he falls over to end the segment.

Sheamus defeats Dolph Ziggler in a non-title main event using the brogue kick.

Thoughts: If Big Show wins MITB, I’m going to be pissed. Show doesn’t need a WWE Title run, nor does he need to be in the title scene in any capacity. Ryback is boring me, and while it was nice to see Yoshi Tatsu make an appearance, it would’ve been better to see him in the ring. Anybody else feel like Foley wasn’t much of a GM for the show? I loved seeing Zack Ryder wrestle, but now I want to see him put into a meaningful rivalry and start his climb to the top. Christian and Del Rio wrestled a really good match; I wouldn’t mind seeing them feud over the IC Title and keep Del Rio away from the main event scene. I like the continuation of AJ helping Kane as needed and hindering him to help CM Punk. I still think her ultimate storyline ending will involve her helping DBry win the WWE Title, but it’s hard to tell where creative will decide to take her character. The Prime Time Players looked awesome once again in the ring; they’re starting to become my all around favorite tag team in WWE. I also like the team of Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd. Santino’s promo was classic Santinowith cheesy comedy, but it was definitely unnecessary for this solid Smackdown. I have to wonder if WWE is making the US Title intentionally look like a joke with how they’ve treated it as of late. You shouldn’t have to even ask if I enjoyed the main event. Sheamus and Ziggler have an awesome chemistry and it shines through every time they have a match. I can’t wait to see Dolph permanently encased in the main event storylines. Hopefully it will happen before the year is over.

Davey Richards and Kyle O’Reilly against Kevin Steen and Steve Corino ends in a no contest.

Thoughts: Best in the World is this weekend! Make sure you order it on ROHWrestling.com. The $14.95 ippv will be accessible for one year on their website after purchasing. Steen/Richards 2 will be worth every penny of seeing this event.

News Items:

John Cena is slated to face CM Punk for the WWE Championship at Summerslam. Now plans can always change, but I like this decision if it sticks. These two had an amazing match at MITB last year and their Summerslam encounter could’ve duplicated if Triple H had not been involved and they had been given ten more minutes. This is really smart booking; the only thing better would be adding Daniel Bryan and making it a triple threat match.

Chris Jericho’s suspension is up and he’s set to return to Raw this Monday. There’s talk of Jericho being a face this time around. I’m intrigued to see who he might feud with first. Daniel Bryan would be a good choice and make for some interesting technical encounters.

Randy Orton will be pushed upon his return to WWE due to a lack of roster depth. I’m okay with it. Orton getting a third strike and being terminated would mean a much needed vacation for the viper. Orton would be eligible to return after one year away from WWE.

That’s all for this week. Make sure to check out our Best In The World Predictions column, which will be up by the start of tomorrow. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!